ROCKFORD — For nearly 21 years, the parents of Stephanie Johnston thought their 15-year-old daughter ran away from their Rockton home in October 1993 before she was found dead on New Year’s Eve that year in a block of ice in the Rock River.

Although an autopsy showed the Hononegah High School student drowned in the river, Winnebago County Sheriff’s detectives never ruled out foul play. Prior to her death she had dated a classmate, Terence Doddy, who is now facing charges in connection to homicides in Rockford and Lee County.

“Nobody knew anything back then, and now they do,” Stephanie’s father, William Johnston, said of the renewed interest into his daughter’s death. “I wish the people who are talking about this now would have said something then.”

Information from the 1993 case file compiled by sheriff’s detectives has been shared with Rockford police, Winnebago County Deputy Chief Dominic Iasparro said.

“We have nothing to indicate (Doddy’s) involvement other than she died under suspicious circumstances and they had been dating prior to that and how her body was found,” Iasparro said.

At the time of her death, Johnston was a sophomore and a member of the school’s cross country team. She participated in youth soccer for six years, according to her obituary published in the Rockford Register Star.

Last week, Doddy was the subject of a nationwide manhunt after his friend, Todd Hansmeier, 37, of Rockford and a Hononegah graduate, was found dead early June 30 by Rockford firefighters responding to a fire at QVSM, a call center at 320 N. Alpine Road, where Doddy worked.

Police said Doddy fled in Hansmeier’s car and sought a warrant for his arrest.

A day later, Tonya Bargman, 44, of Monticello, was killed at an Interstate 39 rest stop in Paw Paw, about 40 miles south of Rockford. Police said surveillance video showed Bargman being attacked by a man as she left a restroom at the Willow Creek rest stop. Doddy reportedly was seen leaving the rest stop in the woman’s gray Nissan Altima, police said.

On July 4, Doddy was spotted behind the wheel of Bergman’s vehicle south and later north of the Illinois-Wisconsin border. He led police on a chase that exceeded speeds of 100 mph before he slammed into a tree off Wisconsin 81 in the Town of Beloit. He was arrested after a brief struggle with police.

Doddy is being held in the Rock County Jail. His next court appearance is July 25. It is unknown if he will waive extradition.

If he should fail to do so, Winnebago County Deputy State’s Attorney Jim Brun said he is responsible for preparing a packet of information containing a certified complaint warrant, an affidavit and fingerprints of Doddy. State law requires the packet must be sent to Gov. Pat Quinn who would be asked to review the information and petition Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to release Doddy to Illinois law enforcement.

Page 2 of 2 - In addition to the murder charges in Illinois and traffic charges in Wisconsin that include driving under the influence of cocaine, Doddy, a husband and father of a 4-year-old son, faces charges of domestic battery.